A review by lizanneyoung
A Cursed Son by Day Leitao

4.0

I received an eARC and am leaving an honest review. 

TROPES

🟪 Enemies to Lovers

🟪 Scary Cinnamon Roll MMC

🟪 Kindred Spirits

🟪 Connected Dreams

I really enjoyed this story. From the premise of the “substitutes” to the idea that Astra has been dreaming about this one person for so long, only to find out it isn’t who she thought it would be, everything was pieced together in a way that made me hopeful for Astra but also worried for her future. 

Her banter and chemistry with Marlak are great but also force you to question what he isn’t telling her, what she will never know, and what his end goal is. Sure, we think we know what it is because he tells Astra what it supposedly is, but I can’t help but wonder what lurks underneath the surface. With this being 99% Astra’s POV, we may know more in the second book, but I don’t have my hopes up quite yet, considering the ending. 

And, that ending. If we hadn’t had the last chapter, I would be torn about continuing the series. I do not love it when books end in sudden 180s, but because we had context, it worked well in this instance. I feel like I know just enough about Marlak’s thought process there that I want to see it through, how he achieves his goals, and what that means for Astra.